Apparatus and method of receiving and bagging articles



y 1955 M. E. TOBY I 2,708,539

APPARATUS AND METHOD OF RECEIVING AND BAGGING ARTICLES Filed 001:. 8,1951 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Mari 7&5

ATi'ORNEYS Tiq E.

May 17, 1955 APPARATUS Filed 001;. 8, 1951 M. E. TOBY 2,708,539 ANDMETHOD OF RECEIVING AND BAGGING ARTICLES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR MAX755W ATTORN EYS May 17,1955 M E TOBY 2,708,539

APPARATUS AND METHOD OF RECEIVING AND BAGGING ARTICLES Filed Oct; 8,1951 4 Sheeis-Sheet 3 Fig.5.

f5 INVENTOR I ma. 4-. MX. 5

ATTORN EYS CLES M. E. TOBY APPARATUS AND METHOD OF RECEIVING AND BAGGINGARTI 4 t e e a W w w h s 4 a 9 i a w/ Z l I I I I IA 4* 8 0 6 w m u w w8 .1- 2 L M a d 3 7 m m Q E w s R Y mfi m m5 m mm A B W a 4 6 9 40 5 9 93 pi 7 66W 7 8E wffi n 2-. LI. 5; I m I f: a a Z a d g M .22 0 i g, N 39 3 7 0L2 $35 6 4 I W a 1- W APPARATUS AND METHOD OF RECEIVING ANDBAGGING ARTICLES San Francisco, Calif., assignor to Package Inc.,Oakland, Calif., a corporation of Max E. Toby, Enterprises, CaliforniaThis invention relates to a mechanism for, and a method of, stacking andbagging articles, and is particularly related to an apparatus arrangedto receive a predetermined number of articles in stacked relation andsequentially urge each stack thereof into a bag or other package.

The apparatus of the present invention is particularly well adapted forthe stacking and bagging of sliced meats or like products, andthroughout the specification reference may be had to such products.However, it will be clear that the teachings of this invention may belikewise applied to other articles where it is desired to package, wrap,or merely separate stacks of articles, each having a preselected numberof articles therein.

An object of the present invention is to provide ap paratus in which alarge quantity of articles may be sequentially and rapidly received, asfrom a slicing mechanism, and which is arranged to segregate apreselected number of such articles in a stack, and to convey such astack to a position remote from the apparatus delivering the articles,and then move the stack into a bag or other receptacle.

Another object of my invention is to provide appara tus of the characterdescribed which is compact in construction so as to minimize the plantfloor space required and which is arranged to handle articles of foodwithout danger of contaminating the latter, and without requiring theoperator of the unit to manually handle such articles.

A further object of this invention is to provide a com bination stackingand bagging mechanism which is substantially completely automatic inoperation, and which will reduce the number or plant personnelpreviously required for comparable operations.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus ofthe type described in which the stack ing, conveying and baggingmechanisms are all driven from a common power source and are sointerrelated as to insure positive cooperation therebetween.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a novel transfer meansfor conveying the individual stacks of articles from the deliverymechanism to the bagging mechanism with a substantially true harmonicmotion so as to greatly minimize the previously present danger of havingthe stacked articles thrown from the apparatus due to a non-uniformacceleration of the conveyor.

A further object of my invention is to provide a rotary transfermechanism which is arranged to receive a stack of articles and tointermittently rotate such stacks to a position for bagging, and inwhich means are provided for positively locking the mechanism in eachposition of rotation.

A still further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of thecharacter described in Which means are provided for positivelypreventing actuation of the bagging mechanism during periods when thestacks are being moved.

"' set forth in 2,708,539 Patented May 17, 1955 Another object of thisinvention is to provide a device of the type referred to which may be'adju's'tably positioned vertically and laterally relative to a slice!or other feeding machine.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedmethod of taking stacked articles from their initial point of depositand rapidly moving such articles to a position for bagging the same.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of the abovecharacter which is capable of high speed production over extendedperiods of operation without requiring any special handling or'repai'rf's The invention possesses other objects and features ofadvantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be the followingdescription of the preferred form of the invention which is illustratedin the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specifica= tion. Itis to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by thesaid drawings and des'cr'ip tion may be adopted within the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the apparatuscomprising the present invention;

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of a pertion of the operatingmechanism.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional plan view taken substantially in the planeindicated by the line of Figure l. 1

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional plan view taken siib= stan'tially in theplane indicated by the line 5- 5 of Figure 1. I

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional plan view taken 's'ubs'tan tially in theplane indicated by the line 66 of Fig= ure 1.

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional elevational view taken substantially inthe plane indicated by the line 7 7 of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a crosssectional elevatioiial view taken substantially inthe planes indicated by the line 8'-8 of Figure 4.

The apparatus of the adapted for receiving a present invention isparticularly plurality of Slices of sandwich meats, cheese, or the likefrom a slicing" machine fern ing no part of the present invention),remaining sta tionary while a stack of a predetermined number of slicesis being built up, moving said stack to a position remote from thereceiving station, and forcing said stack into a bag or the like whileanother stack is being formed, Machines to carry out the foregoing couldbe constructed in numerous different ways, but for reasons of economy ofconstruction, posi-tiveness of operation, and high suecessfulproductivity, I prefer to construct the apparatus" in a mannersubstantially as set forth in the drawings. As here shown, the entireunit is mounted in and on a housing 16 which includes a top wall 17, anda plurality of side walls 18 cooperating to define a substan tiallyenclosed chamber 19 in which the bulk of the operating mechanism isdisposed; In order to adjust the height of the housing relative" to thehoof; and there particularly, relative to' a slicing" or other machinewith which it may be used, on the opposite end walls of the housing Iprovide one or more vertically spaced lugs" 21 having threaded aperturestherein for receiving vertically extending and threaded shafts" 22;These shaftsar'e suitably journaled in vertically spaced plates 23, thelatter extending outwardly from angle members 24 which constitute aportion of the housing support frame 26. The frame 26' also includesvertically disposed angles 27 ranged to engage and guide the respectivecorners of the housing 16 as the latter is selectively raised andlowered.

As will be understood, rotation of the shafts 22 in the threaded housinglugs will cause relative movement between the housing 16 to which thelugs are secured and the frame 26 in which the shaftsare verticallyfixed. Slight floor irregularities may be compensated for by means ofcasters 28 or the like disposed adjacent the intersecting corners ofangle members 29 which comprise the lower end of frame 26 and which arewelded or otherwise secured to the angles 27. The casters are providedwith threaded shafts 31 which are vertically adjustable in plates 32,each of the latter being provided with a threaded aperture for receivingits respective shaft and extending outwardly from the corners of theframe. Thus, aseach corner of the apparatus may be independentlyadjusted, the main function of to substantially raise or lower theentire housing 16. In view thereof, means are provided forsimultaneously rotating the shafts 22, and as here shown, such meansinclude a chain 33 operatively connected to sprockets ,34, the latterbeing secured adjacent the lower end of each shaft for rotationtherewith. The sprockets, are preferably disposed just above the lowerbearing members 36 for the shafts, and to facilitate manual rotation ofthe latter, a hand wheel 37 is connected to one or both of the shafts.It is thus believed clear that by rotating the hand wheel 37, the shafts22 will effect selective raising or lowering of the housing. Also, ifdesired, an idler sprocket 38 may be mounted for rotation in the planeof the chain 33 on a bar 39 extending transversely between opposed anglemembers 29 so as to insure substantially simultaneous rotation of theshafts. As hereinabove stated, the apparatus of this invention isparticularly well adapted for receiving slices of meat, cheese, orsimilar products from a suitable slicing machine, a portion of theframework of such a machine being indicated by the numeral 41. Theslicer is preferably bolted to the floor structure as indicated at 42,and means are provided for selectively moving the apparatus adjacent theslicer so as to position the slice receiving mechanism in proper spacedrelation to the slicer discharge. Such means include a plate 43extending vertically upwardly from opposed side angles 29 to which arepivotally mounted as by pins 44, straps 46, the latter being joinedtogether by a transverse strap 47. The upper ends of straps 46 areapertured to receive a pivot shaft 48, the latter also being pivotallyconnected to horizontally extending straps 49 having hooks Si adjacenttheir distal ends. These hooks are adapted to overlie a transverse shaft52 of the slicing apparatus,

and it is believed clear that by causing oscillation of :11;

the straps 46 about their pivots 44 the apparatus will be selectivelymoved toward or from the slicer. Such movement of the straps 46 iseffected by means of a threaded bolt 53 having a hand wheel 54 which isjournaled for rotation in a member 56 extending outwardly from theframe. A pair of spaced collars S7 prevent axial movement of the bolt,and the distal end of the the shafts 22 is 2 latter is threaded into atraveler element 58 secured to one of the straps 46. By threading thebolt through the traveler, the aforesaid movement will be created, andto make the entire mechanism more sturdy, a shaft 59 is secured to eachof the straps 49 and is gcneraily parallel to transverse strap 47.

While the foregoing will permit a longitudinal adjustment, it is furtherdesirable to arrange for lateral positioning of the apparatus which isefiected by means of spaced collars 61 disposed on the slicer shaft 52and engageable with opposite sides of each strap 49. The shaft 52 isthreaded in the slicer framework so asto permit axial movement of theshaft relative thereto, and upon rotation of the shaft by a handwheel62, the collars will be moved along the axis of the shaft and forciblyurge the members 49, and consequently the entire slice receivingapparatus, in a lateral direction. Thus, the stacking mechanism isreadily adjustable vertically, longitudi- 3 open end of a bag 81 nallyand transversely of the slicer, and by merely op; erating the properhandwheels 37, 54 and 62, the mechanism is universally positionable.

The slicer mechanism per se does not constitute any part of the presentinvention and only certain portions of the framework of the slicer havebeen illustrated in order to set forth an environment for the slicereceiving apparatus of my invention and to illustrate the manner inwhich the apparatus may be positioned relative to the slicer. However,the slicer is of the conventional type and is arranged to receive aquantity of meat or the like, and by means of a rotating knife and ameat advancing mechanism, deposit a plurality of meat slices in auniform stack, the number of slices in each stack being controlled by asuitable counting mechanism incorporated in the slicing apparatus. As aprincipal feature of the present invention, means are provided forreceiving the said slices until a stack is formed, and then moving thestack out of the path of the sequential slices so that additional stacksmay be formed as the preceding stack is being bagged. Such means includea disk-like member 71 positioned just above the top wall 17 of thehousing and at the end of the latter adjacent the slicer machine. Asbest seen in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings,

the disk 71 is divided into quadrants by four symmetri cally positionedsets of radial corrugations 72 on the upper surface of the disk. Thesecorrugations terminate short of the disk center and extend to theperiphery of the disk, and each set is of a size sufficient to receive astack of slices from the slicing machine when the particular set isindexed into a position underlying the slice discharge of the machine.It is desirable to have the corrugations extend generally diametricallyof the disk, so as to permit the stack to be easily pushed off of thedisk when the stack is bagged, as will be hereinafter explained. Inconnection with the bagging operation, it will be noted that the disk 71is provided with a central opening 73 through which certain portions ofthe bagging mechanism extend. Also, mounted on a side wall 18 of thehousing, is a plate 74 which is arranged to support a bag mandrel 76.The mandrel merely comprises a horizontal plate 77 disposed immediatelyadjacent the periphery of disk 71 and coplanar with the upper surface ofthe latter, and a pair of flanges 78 rising vertically from the opposedsides of the plate 77. Plate 77 is preferably provided with a pluralityof raised wires 79 which are aligned with a set of the disk corrugations72 upon each quarter-revolution of the disk.

Also, to facilitate the placing of a bag on the mandrel, the flanges 78slope downwardly toward the plate ad jacent the end of the latter remotefrom disk 71. In operation, the operator manually or otherwise, slidesthe (indicated in dot-dash lines in Figure 3) over the plate 77 andflanges 78 so that the open end of the bag is disposed adjacent the diskperiph-- ery and in a condition to receive a stack of slices therefrom.Upon actuation of the plunger mechanism 82- to be hereinafter describedin detail, the stack is pushed ofi of its set of disk corrugations andonto the wires 79 of the bag mandrel which is now completely encompassedby a bag. Further movement of the plunger will force both the stack andbag off of the carrier where it may fall onto a horizontal conveyordisposed subjacent the mandrel, the conveyor not being illustrated inthe draw ings, and the operator may then place another bag on themandrel for receiving the next stack from the disk. As will beunderstood, some means must be provided for rotating the disk 71 aquarter revolution as a stack of slices is deposited on one set ofcorrugations 72 from the slicer so as to bring the stack into registrywith the bag carrier 76. Furthermore, in view of the fact that a periodof time must elapse during which the stack is being formed,- therotation of the disk is only intermittent, and it is of course necessaryto properly register the corrugations with the slicer and bag carrier oneach 26, and preferably depending from a transverse structural element92 which is secured to the housing 16 so as to move with the latter. Themotor is secured to element 92 in any suitable manner such as by boltingthe motor base plate 93 to one or more structural members 94 which arefastened to element 92 by angle clips 96 or the like. The motor isarranged to drive a horizontally disposed worm 97 by means of a belt 98operatively engaged with sheaves 99 disposed on the motor shaft and wormrespectively. A worm gear 101 is positioned on a vertically extendingshaft 102, the lower :37

end of the latter being mounted in the element 92 by means of a bearing103, while an upper portion of the shaft is mounted in a similarstructural element 104 ures 1 and 8, it will be seen that the worm gearincludes a collar portion 107 freely rotatable relative to shaft 102 bymeans of annular bronze bushings 108 disposed between the shaft andcollar. In this manner, although shaft 102 is freely rotatable in itsbearings 103 and 106, the

rotation of the worm gear will not impart any rotational movement to theshaft.

Adjacent the upper end of the worm gear collar 107, is secured a lowerclutch element 109 which is provided with a plurality of serrations 111on the upper surface thereof. An upper clutch element 112 is providedwith similar serrations on its lower surface, and means are provided foreffecting selective engagement and disengagement of the respectiveclutch elements for a purpose to be hereinafter explained. Clutchelement 112 is mounted on shaft 102 by means of a key 113 or the likewhereby the element is capable of axial movement on the shaft but willbe rotated therewith. Normally the two clutch elements are maintained inspaced or disengaged relation so that the continuous rotation of theworm gear will not impart any rotation to the shaft 102 or effectmovement of the disk 71 or other parts of the mechanism. However, whenit is desired to actuate the disk and plunger mechanism, some means mustbe provided for interengaging the clutch elements. The foregoing may beaccomplished in the following manner. The

upper clutch element 112 is provided with a peripheral diametricallyextending lug 114 disposed above the gen eral plane of the clutchserrations 111. A cam or clutch dog 117 is positioned so as to normallyengage the under surface of lug 114 and hold the element 112 indisengaged position. Cam 117 is mounted on a medial portion of ahorizontally extending member 118 which is journaled to a pair of spacedbracket members 122 fixedly secured to the element 92. Journaled onupper portions of the rod member 118 on opposite sides of cam 117 andextending generally horizontally from the memher are a pair of links 123having their distal ends liketo member 118 by means of pins 119. Ifdesired suit- .3:

able spacers 120 may be interposed between the brackets 112 and thelinks 123. Another pair of links 126 are likewise journaled on rod 124to form a substantial continuation of the links 123, these links 126being journaled on a pin 127 mounted between a pair of vertically afixed transverse beam member 133 and with one or both of the links 126normally urges the links 126 and 123 into a generally horizontalposition as indicated in Figure 1 so as to cause engagement of the cam.117 with the lug 114. However, upon either upward or downward movementof the arms 129 the toggle joint will be actuated and will result inpivotal outward movement of the lever arms 119 around the pin 121thereby moving the cam carrying pin outwardly from the clutch lug 114,and permitting the clutch element 112 to gravitally descend intoengagement with clutch element 109. However, to facilitate suchengagement, a compression spring 136 may be interposed between theelement 112 and a gear 137 which is secured to shaft 102 above theclutch mechanism.

Any suitable manual or automatic means could be provided for effecting adownward pull on the arms 129 so as to release the clutch lock andpermit rotation of the shaft. However, I prefer to utilize a solenoid,generally indicated by the numeral 138, which may be mounted on themembers 128. The solenoid is provided with a core or armature 139 whichis secured to the pin 131. Thus, upon 'energization of the solenoid, thearmature moves inwardly and effects the foregoing opening of the togglejoint and engagement of the clutch elements. The reason for the solenoidinstallation is that the solenoid may be readily connected to the slicecounting mechanism of the slicer so that upon the deposit of apredetermined number of slices on the disk 71, the solenoid will beenergized, the clutch will be engaged, and the disk will be rotated in amanner presently to be explained. As is well known, a solenoid impulseis of an extremely short duration, and therefore the cam will be removedfrom the clutch lug 114 for a period only sufficient to permit meshingof the respective clutch serrations for less than a single revolution,for toward the end of the revolution, the cam will again act to raisethe clutch element 112 out of engagement with the element 109, but therewill be suflicient rotating momentum to permit the lug to rise on thecam for completion of the revolution. Also, additional means may beprovided to urge the lug on the clutch back to the cam 117 in the eventinertia is insufficient to complete the single revolution. Such meansinclude a gear 141 which is mounted for rotation with a verticallyextending shaft 142 and is operatively connected to the gear 137 onshaft 102. Shaft 142 is journaled in a bearing 143 mounted in a fixedstructural element 144 and extends downwardly therefrom to support aearn 146 having a generally egg-shaped periphery. Thus, as the shaft 102is intermittently rotated, like rotation will be imparted to the cam 146through the gears 137 and 141. A cam lever 147 is fixed on a verticallyextending shaft 148, the lower end of the latter being journaled in afixed element 149. The distal end of lever 147 is provided with a camroller 151 which is arranged to engage the periphery of cam 146, and toinsure its rolling contact therewith, a tension spring 152 may beprovided which has one end connected to a fixed portion of the housingand the other end connected to the lever 147. By means of the springpressure, the cam lever roller will urge the cam substantially to theposition indicated in Figure 2, that is, over the hump in the cam, eventhough the cam was not driven to this position. In this manner, if theinertia of the upper clutch element 112 will not sufiice to have the lug114 engaged by the cam 117, the earn 146 will act as a driven memberrather than a driver and effect the complete effecting the completerevolutions of shafts 102 and 142, these partsserve a more importantpurpose which will be explained hereinafter. I

As previously mentioned, the gear 141 is fixed for rotation on shaft142, so that intermittent single revolutions of the shaft will beeffected upon each opening of the toggle joint whether actuated by thesolenoid 138 or otherwise. Secured to the upper member of shaft 142 is acrank 161 provided with an upstanding pin 162 at the distal end of thecrank remote from its connection with the shaft 142. Journaled forrelative rotary movement on the pin 162 is a horizontally extending linkmember 163 having one bifurcated end portion 164 and the other endtelescopically movable in an element 166 which is journaled for rotationon a fixed post 167 whose lower end is secured to a structural member168. With this arrangement, as the crank 161 is rotated one fullrevolution, it will impart a rotary movement to the forked end of thelink 163 and at the same time cause the link to move axially relative toelement 166 which will also oscillate around the post 167. The forkedend 164 of the link is arranged to engage one of a set of four rollers169 rotatably mounted on a disk 171 and equally spaced adjacent theperiphery of the latter. The disk 171 is supported on the upper end of acollar 172 which is telescopically mounted over shaft 142, and bronzebushings 173 are disposed between the shaft and collar so as to permitfree relative rotation between the same. It is believed clear that uponrotation of the crank 161, the forked end of the link 163 will slidablyengage a roller on the disk and move the latter for a quarter revolutionfor each full revolution of the crank before the forked end isdisengaged by the roller. Thus, the function of this mechanism is toconvert a 360 degree rotary movement into a 90 degree rotation, thelatter being the subsequent desired rotation of the slice receiving disk71. Furthermore, although different mechanisms could be utilized toaccomplish the foregoing, it is necessary and desirable that the quarterrevolution of movement imparted to the disks 171 and 71 be of asubstantially true harmonic motion so as to prevent sudden accelerationor deceleration which would tend to dislodge the stacked slices from thereceiving disk. By virtue of the mechanism disclosed, it will be clearthat for approximately the first 180 degrees of rotation of shaft 142and the crank 161, no rotary movement of the disk 171 will be effected,as the link fork 164 will merely move axially toward a roller engagingposition. However, continued rotation of the crank Will cause the forkto move in an arcuate path and convey the engaged roller and associateddisk through ninety degrees whereat the fork will be moved out ofengagement with the roller.

In view of the fact that the disk 171 is freely rotatable about theshaft 142, when the link is disengaged from the the roller, it would bepossible for the disk to continue its rotary movement beyond the ninetydegrees required unless some means are provided to positively lock thedisk after each such quarter revolution. Such means preferably include asegmented disk 174 secured to the upper end of shaft 102 for rotationwith the latter. The disk 174 will thus rotate one complete revolutionfor each rotation of shafts 102 and 142 and the crank 161. It will benoted that the disk 174 is constructed as a substantially semi-circularplate of slightly more than 180 degrees whose peripheral portionsoverlie the disk 171 and are arranged to engage a pair of rollers 169 inone position of rotation of the segmented disk and are radially spacedfrom such rollers in another position of rotation. By referring toFigure 2, the position of the disk 174 is disclosed wherein the arcuateperipheral portions thereof engage two adjacent rollers and effectivelyprevent rotation of the disk 171 in either direction. This positioncorresponds to that when the disk 171 has completed a one-quarterrevolution and it is necessary to prevent free wheeling thereof afterdisengagement of the link with the disk rollers. However, furtherrotation of the disk 174 will place the cut-out portion adjacent therollers and permit free passage of'the rollers past the segmented diskand consequently result in the aforesaid rotation of disk 171.

From the-foregoing, the manner of achieving the intermittentand'positive quarter revolutions of the disk 171 will be understood, butit is still necessary to impart an identical movement to the slicereceiving disk 71 so that the stacks may be moved from the slicereceiving station to a position in alignment with the bag mandrel. Toaccomplish this, I utilize a sprocket 176 which is secured to the lowerend of the collar 172 of the disk 171. An identical sprocket 177 issecured to a hub 178 mounted for rotation on a fixed post 179 extendingvertically from the transverse structural element 133. With particularreference to Figure 7, it will be seen that a depending collar 181 ofdisk 71 is secured to hub 178 for rotation with the latter about thepost 179, bronze bushings 182 preferably being inserted between the huband post. To drive the sprocket 177, and consequently the hub 178 anddisk 71, a chain 183 operatively connects the sprockets 176 and 177, andto insure a positive drive therebetween, an idler sprocket 184 isprovided which can be easily mounted on a stub shaft 186 also mounted onthe element 133. Thus, when disk 171 is rotated a quarter revolution,the chain 183 will impart a like amount of rotation to the disk 71 forthe purpose hereinabove explained.

Just prior to, or upon completion of the quarter revolution of the disk71, the plunger mechanism 82 must be actuated so as to push the stackfrom the disk into the bag 81 positioned on the bag mandrel 76. Suchmechanism must, of course, be properly timed relative to the rotarymovement of the disk so that the stack of slices indicated by thenumeral 186 and represented by the dotdash lines in Figure 3 will not beprematurely engaged by the plunger, yet which must be moved promptlyafter the positioning of the stack adjacent the bag mandrel to speed upthe machine operation. Secured to the upper end of post 179 is a fixedU-shaped frame 187 having the legs 188 thereof in general axialalignment with the mandrel flanges 78. The transverse leg 189 of theframe is provided with spaced openings for slidably receiving andaxially guiding a pair of spaced rods 191 sectu'ed at their ends by amember 192. Rods 191 also pass through similar openings provided inblocks 193 secured to the end of each frame leg 188. Carried by the rodends is a plunger or piston 194 having a pushing surface 196 arranged toengage the stack 186 and force the same into the bag as the rods guidethe plunger along a linear path of travel toward the bag mandrel.

To elfect the linear movement of the plunger 194 toward and from themandrel, one end of a link 197 is pivotally attached theretointermediate the ends thereof by means of a pin 198. The other end ofthe link is pivotally mounted at the distal end of a lever arm 199 whichis mounted for rotation with the shaft 148 by means of a fixed collar201. As was previously mentioned in connection with the clutchmechanism, the shaft 148 is secured to the cam lever 147 which isoscillated by rotation of the cam 146. As the cam completes a singlerevolution, the cam lever will oscillate shaft 148 so as to impart aswinging movement of lever arm 199 both toward and from the bag mandrel.Although it would be possible to pivotally connect the end of the arm199 directly to the plunger 194, such an arrangement would not permitthe plunger to enter the bag as the end of the arm would undersirablycontact the bag. By using the link 197, the plunger will not only urgethe stack 186 off of the disk 71, but will continue pushing the stackonto and past the mandrel so that the end of the stack remote from thatengaged by the plunger surface 196 will engage the closed end of the bagand push the bag and its now encompassed stack off of the mandrel andonto a conveyor or other filled bag receiver. Naturally, as the camlever 147 is oscillated by rotation of the cam 146, the lever arm 199will be likewise oscillated so that the plungerwill advance toward themandrel and retreat therefrom during each cycle of the apparatus.

Although the functions and operations of the various parts of theapparatus are believed clear from the fore: going description, theoperaiion of one complete cycle of movement will now be set forth.Assuming that the apparatus is properly positioned relative to theslicing mechanism by adjustment of the appropriate handwheels, the.slicer is set into motion and a plurality of superimposed slices of someproduct are deposited on one of the sets of corrugations 72 on the disk71. After a predetermined number of slices have been deposited on thedisk, the solenoid is actuated, preferably by means of a micro-switchoperatively engaged with the slicer counting mechanism. As the impulseis received by the sole: noid, the core 139 is retracted and the togglejoint is opened. Obviously, if desired, either the toggle or solenoidcould be independently actuated by an operator, but in actual practice,the micro-switch mechanism would be preferred. Upon opening of thetoggle joint, the upper clutch element 112 will be momentarily engagedwith the constantly rotating lower clutch element 109 and cause theshaft 102 to complete a single revolution as at the end of therevolution, the clutch lug 114 will climb up on the lug cam and efiectdisengagement of the clutch. As the shaft 102 is rotated, similarrotation will be imparted to shaft 142 through the matching gears 13.7and 141. The shaft 142 rotates the crank 161, and during one completerevolution of the latter, the link member 163 will cause the disk 171 torotate one quarter of a revolution with a substantially true harmonicmotion, further free rotation of the disk being prevented by thesegmented disk 174. The said quarter revolution of the disk 171 isconveyed directly to the slice receiving disk 71 through the sprockets176 and 177 and their associated chain or belt 183. As the disk 171substan t-ially completes its limited rotation, the cam 146 which isdirectly connected for rotation with the gear 141 will effect anoscillation of the lever 147 and shaft 148, the latter in turn causingthe plunger 194 to slide the stack off of the disk corrugations and intoa bag which has been placed on the bag mandrel 76 which is aligned withthe stack afterthe said quarter revolution of the disk 71.

From this description, it will be seen that apparatus has been developedwhich will do far more than merely convey a product from one station toanother. The parts are so arranged that the rotary receiving member willrotate exactly 90 degrees at selected intervals with out danger ofstopping short of or moving past its quadrant positions. Furthermore, bymeans of the novel link mechanism, a uniform rotation is imparted to thedisk so that it is practically insured that other product w tated. Then,with the plunger mechanism which is positively locked during rotation ofthe disk, it is possible tov speed up the machine operation and yetguarantee movement of the plunger only when the product is aligned withthe open bag on the bag mandrel. It should also be. pointed out that byutilizing the method of receiving a stack, rotating the same and thenpushing the same into a bag or the like, maximum production may bemaintained while still cutting down on the normally required personnelto operate devices for performing comparable operations.

I claim:

1. Apparatus of the character described comprising a horizontallydisposed rotor element having a plurality of sets of radially extendingguide means thereon, said guide means sets being equally spaced fromeach other, means for intermittently rotating said element a distanceequal to the circumferential spacing of said guide means sets, a plungermechanism disposed over said element, means for advancing said plungermechanism radially outwardly and substantially immediately over one ofsaid sets of guide means, and means for synchronizing the movement ofsaid plunger mechanism with said rotation of the element whereby saidplunger mechanism will adthe stack or 1 remain on the disk as the latteris 1:01

' tinuing such radial movement of said article until the leading edge ofsaid article engages and effects similar movement of the bag and thearticle placed therein, said bag movement being substantailly as greatas the length of said bag.

3. Apparatus for receiving articles from a dispenser and conveying aselected number of such articles to a position remote from saiddispenser comprising, a rotor element having a substantially flat uppersurface on which said articles may be placed, a freely rotatabledisk-like member having a plurality of circumferentially spacedprojections extending from the surface of said member, means engageablewith a selected one of said projections, a power source for moving saidprojection engaging means into and out of engagement with sequenitalprojections and rotating said disk member, means for limiting therotation of said member to an amount equal to the spacing of saidprojections, and means interconnecting said disk member and said rotorelement for driving the latter in synchronism with the former.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 in which means are provided forselectively placing said power source into and out of operativeengagement with said projection engaging means whereby said rotorelement will be intermittently rotated through its said degree ofrotation.

5,. Mechanism of the type described comprising a circular plate-likeelement having a plurality of equally circumferentially spacedarticle-receiving portions on the upper surface thereof, a horizontallydisposed disk having a plurality of equally circumferentially spacedroller members extending vertically therefrom, the number of saidrollers being equal to the number of said portions on said element, apower source, a crank member operatively connected to said power source,means for imparting intermittent single rotations to said crank member,a link member having a medial portion rotatably secured to said crankmember and one end portion slidably mounted in a freely rotatableelement and the other end portion provided with roller engaging means,said roller engaging means upon one rotation of said crank moving intoengagement with a roller and moving said roller and the disk memberthrough a number of degrees corresponding to the spacing of said rollersand thence moving out of engagement with the roller, and meansconnecting said disk and said element whereby said element will berotated in synchronismwith said dis 6, Mechanism of the type describedcomprising a cireular plate-like element having a plurality of equallycircumferentially spaced article-receiving portions on the upper surfacethereof, a horizontally disposed disk having a plurality of equallycireumferentially spaced roller members extending vertically therefrom,the number of said rollers being equal to the number of said portions ons i el ment. a P e s ur d i ng means p tivelr connected to said powersource, means for intermittently rotating said driving means, a linkmember having a medial portion engageable for movement with said drivingmeans and an end portion releasably engageable with one of said rollers,said end portion effecting rotation of said disk when engageable withsaid roller in an amount equal to the circumferential spacing of saidrollers, said disk being freely rotatable, stop means operativelyconnected to said power source and movable in synchronism with saiddriving means engageable with a roller at the end of said rotation ofthe disk, and drive 11 means interconnecting said disk and element fordriving said element in timed relation to the rotation of said disk.

7. Article receiving and conveying apparatus compris ing a horizontallydisposed article-receiving disk-like member having a plurality ofequally circumferentially spaced indexing stations on the upper surfacethereof on which said articles may be sequentially deposited, means forrotating said member an amount equal to the spacing between saidstations including a rotary power source, said rotating means furtherincluding a rotor member connected to said disk-like member forsynchronously rotating the latter therewith, a crank, clutch meansinterposed between said crank and said power source whereby intermittentimpulses of rotation of said crank may be obtained, means for limitingsaid crank rotation to one revolution, said rotor member having meansthereon spaced equally around the periphery of the latter, means drivenby said crank and sequentially engageable with said spaced rotor meansfor rotating said rotor an amount equal to the angular spacing of saidrotor means, and means including a segmented disk rotatable insynchronism with said crank and having a portion engageable withadjacent rotor means upon completion of each crank revolution so as tolock said rotor in position.

8. Apparatus for receiving articles from a dispenser and bagging thesame comprising, a housing, a member mounted for rotation adjacent thetop of said housing, a single bag mandrel fixedly mounted on saidhousing adjacent the disk-like member periphery and extending radiallyoutwardly therefrom, means for intermittently rotating said member apreselected number of degrees so as to bring equally spaced peripheralportions of said member in radial alignment with said mandrel, plungermeans having a fiat article-engaging surface mounted on said housing,and means for selectively moving said plunger means radially over eachof said peripheral portions toward and from said mandrel wherebyarticles may be pushed from said member and into a bag disposed oversaid mandrel, said plunger means at one end of its stroke extendingradially beyond peripheral edge portions of said disk-like member andbetween said mandrel.

9. Apparatus for receiving articles from a dispenser and placing aquantity of such articles in a bag or like container comprising, ahorizontally disposed rotor having a plurality of equalcircumferentially spaced article receiving stations on the upper surfacethereof, said rotor being freely rotatable, means for supporting a bagwith the open end of the latter adjacent said rotor periphery, a rotarypower source, drive mechanism, a clutch operatively interposed betweensaid mechanism and power source, means for intermittently interengagingsaid clutch and effecting rotation of said drive mechanism, means onsaid clutch limiting rotation of said drive mechanism to a singlerevolution when said clutch is interengaged, a disk operativelyconnected to said drive mechanism and rotatable thereby, means forconverting a full revolution of said drive mechanism to a partialrevolution of said disk conforming to the number of rotor receivingstations, direct drive means between said disk and rotor, a plungerslidable radially over said rotor toward and from and in axial alignmentwith said bag supporting means, and means for urging said plunger towardsaid bag supporting means substantially at the end of rotation of saiddisk.

10. Apparatus for intermittently rotating a substantially circular platemember having a plurality of equally spaced receiving stations on theupper surface thereof through a number of degrees conforming to theangular displacement of said stations comprising, a freely rotatabledisk having a plurality of projections thereon extending generallynormal to the surface of said disk, the number of said projections andtheir spacing conforming to the number and angular displacement of saidrotor receiving stations a horizontal crank member, means adjacent oneend of said crank for intermittently imparting one revolution thereto, alink member having a medial portion pivotally ill secured to said crank,a rotatable sleeve member'having a medial portion pivotally secured tosaid crank, a rotatable sleeve member for telescopically receiving oneend of said link, the other end of said link having a forked portion forengaging the next succeeding projection, means for limiting said diskrotation to the spacing between said projections, and meansinterconnecting said disk and plate whereby movements of the disk willbe imparted to the plate.

11. Apparatus of the character described comprising, a disk-like memberhaving a plurality of equal circumferentially spaced article-receivingstations on the upper surface thereof, a mandrel for supporting a bagwith the open end thereof adjacent to and extending radially outwardlyfrom the periphery of said member, means for intermittently rotatingsaid member, means for limiting said rotation whereby said receivingstations will be sequentially aligned with said mandrel, a plungerdisposed above said upper surface of the member, means for guiding saidplunger diametrically across said member in substantial alignment withsaid mandrel so as to engage an article on said receiving station, meansfor actuating said plunger in synchronism with the rotation of saidrotor, and said plunger being movable beyond the periphery of said rotorwhereby said bag may be disengaged from said mandrel.

12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 11 in which said plunger actuatingmeans includes a cam and a cam follower, an arm secured to said plunger,a cam follower, and a shaft interconnecting said follower and arm forimparting oscillating movement to the latter so as to move the plungerin said guide means.

13. Article receiving and conveying apparatus comprising, a horizontallydisposed article-receiving rotor, at plunger slidable over the uppersurface of said rotor, guide means for said plunger disposed radially ofsaid rotor, a rotary power source, a lower clutch element fixed to saidpower source, a vertically extending shaft, an upper clutch elementsecured to said shaft, and movable axially relative thereto whereby saidclutch elements may be selectively engaged and disengaged, means formoving said upper element downwardly into engagement with said lowerelement for a period less than one complete revolution of said shaft,means for effecting locking of said clutch elements after one revolutionof said upper clutch element and said shaft, 21 second shaft,intermeshing similar gears on each of said shafts, a freely rotatabledisk member in axial alignment with said second shafts having aplurality of equally spaced vertically extending rollers extending fromthe upper surface thereof, a crank secured to said second shaftoverlying said disk, a slotted link-receiving member mounted for freerotary movement, a link slidably journaled in said latter member-andhaving a medial portion pivotally secured to one end of said crank and aforked end portion engageable with a disk projection for rotating thedisk through a partial revolution upon rotation of said crank, asegmented disk secured to said first shaft and having a portioninterposed between adjacent disk projections at the end of said partialrevolution, and means for interconnecting said disk and rotor wherebythe latter will be moved in synchronism with the disk.

14. Apparatus as set forth in claim 13 including a cam mounted forrotation on said second shaft, a plunger arm pivotally connected to saidplunger, a rocker shaft fixed to said plunger arm, a spring loaded camfollower secured to said shaft, said cam being arranged to oscillatesaid rocker shaft and effect movement of said plunger radially outwardlyof said plunger. radially outwardly of said disk at substantially thetermination of rotation of said disk and rotor. 15. A method of baggingarticles deliverable from a dispenser comprising receiving said articlesfrom said dispenser, moving said article in a path along a substantiallyhorizontal plane until said article is aligned with the open end of abag positioned remote from said dispenser,

halting said movement along said path, moving said article within saidhorizontal plane and in a direction in substantial alignment with thelongitudinal axis of said bag and into the latter, and continuing tomove said article until the bag is also moved along its said horizontalaxis.

16. Apparatus for receiving articles from a dispenser and conveying aselected number of such articles to a position remote from saiddispenser comprising an element having a substantially flat uppersurface on which said articles may be placed, a rotatably mounted memberhaving a plurality of circumferentially spaced projections extendingfrom a surface thereof, means releasably engageable with a selected oneof said projections, a power source for moving said projection engagingmeans into and out of engagement with sequential projections and rotatinnecting said memb latter during rotation of References Cited in the fileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Tzibides Sept. 4, Jackson Jan. 1,Meyer-Jogenberg Mar. 11, Taylor Sept. 14, Von Sydow Stirn et a1. GorbyChristian g said member, and means intercond said element for rotatingthe Jan. 30, 1951 Feb. 20, 1951 May 15, 1951

